I was impressed with the model although I felt there were a number of errors and omissions. However, it inspired me enough to purchase the kit and have a go myself. Having examined the kit and a finished example at the Halifax exhibition in 2004, I decided that at £165 it was good value for money and would produce a model that would meet my requirements. It was my intention to also model No 70010 but as running in about 1957, and the recent book by Richard Derry on the Britannia Pacifics provided excellent information as to its condition in this period.

Another modification I made was to the slidebars. These are incorrect in that they have four retaining bolts depicted at both ends, top and bottom. On the prototype, there are only two at each end (on the top) and the lower slidebars are chamfered at each end. I therefore modified the slidebars to this profile. Although not prototypical, I added a length of brass rod between the slidebars and cylinder backplate to improve the rigidity. It is barely visible.

The chassis is designed for rigid construction although provision is made for compensation via half-etch lines around the bearing holes. No parts are provided for compensation. My preferred option is to make the centre axle bearing 'float' by elongating the axle bush holes (slightly up and down) and springing the bearings.

Coupling rods are the usual laminates in nickel silver and are designed to pivot on the centre crankpin. I preferred to modify the construction to allow them to articulate via the joint behind the centre crankpin, as per the prototype. With the chassis fully erected and the wheels and rods fitted, I found that all ran sweetly with only minor tweaking needed. One criticism I would make with regard to the valve gear holes (and some of the other etched holes in this kit) is that the holes are too large, resulting in a sloppy fit; they could have been etched smaller to allow for reaming out.

The kit provides both cast whitemetal and etched spring detail for the loco chassis. I opted for the etched variety and soldered a support bracket from the sandpipes to the spring hangers with some flat brass strip to give rigidity to these otherwise vulnerable items.

The model was motorised using a Mashima unit with flywheel running through a Slater's gearbox on the reardriving axle. A slot is required to the underside of the boiler above the rear drivers to accommodate this set up. This is only slightly visible when completed. Conventional wiper pick-ups were utilised using PCB and phosphor bronze wire acting on the backs of all driving wheels.

Construction of the body began with the footplate, which requires folding at the sides to produce the valances, and at the front to produce the sloping drop plate and lower footplate. Next the cab, which is a one-piece etching for the bottom, front, sides and lower part of the roof, needs folding on half-etch lines. The riveting was punched out and the window beading applied in the flat. This unit was then soldered to the rear of the footplate. The angled cab front plates were then fitted again after rivet detail and window beading applied and finally the roof. The cab floor which includes the extended footplate, cab rear plate and handrail pillars was fitted when the main superstructure was complete.

The smokebox and boiler require rolling although I believe Jim Harris will do this if requested. In both cases, a piece of scrap etch was used to reinforce the soldered seam. Both units have halfetched rivet detail that requires punching out in the flat. The most difficult stage of the construction was the firebox. This is made up of five etchings: left and right sides, left and right fronts and bottom panel. The difficult part is shaping the curve at the top of each side and the folds on the two front pieces. What makes the sides more difficult is that the upper and lower firebox is in one piece. When shaped, these need to be fitted between the cab front and the footplate. The big problem is that the slots in the rear of the firebox sides are set too low. This prevents the rearward extension of the lower firebox from being located under the cab. To overcome this, I had to widen the slot, upwards, by about 2mm. Once this was done, both sides were soldered in place against the front of the cab and the rear of the footplate. The widened slots in the firebox sides do not show as they are hidden by the deep footplate valance.

With the cab and firebox in place the boiler and smokebox were added. Backing plates for the recessed safety valves, regulator rod and clack valves were fitted to the boiler before soldering to the footplate. The ashpan was also fitted below the firebox at this stage and I also fabricated from Imm brass strip the retaining wedges for the firebox bottom plate.

Once the main superstructure was completed detailing could begin. The front shoulders of the firebox are provided as whitemetal castings. The outer surface of the boiler and the inner surface of the firebox were tinned with 145°C solder. The whitemetal castings were then fitted with low melt solder. This helps to fill any gaps and the castings are then filed to shape.

The smoke deflectors are meant to be soldered at the bottom to the footplate and at the top to the smokebox via the prototypical brackets. I preferred to make the deflectors detachable via a bracket and nut soldered behind the plates and a screw inserted up through the footplate. This made painting the smokebox and fitting the nameplates easier. This is not a criticism, just my preference. Incidentally, all three smoke deflector types as carried by the class are provided in the etchings.

As far as cab fittings are concerned, a cast whitemetal backhead is provided along with cast whitemetal dials. There were no seats or reversing gear. The reversing gear was subsequently provided by Jim Harris, who now includes it with the kit. The cast backhead was filed clean of all detail except for the fire hole doors. The detail was then replaced using turned brass dials and other bits fabricated from brass and copper wire. The cab seats were fabricated from brass and were painted by brush along with the other cab fittings for fitting after the loco was painted and the cab glazed.

Another missing item is the linkage under the extended cab floor on the righthand side running towards the centre of the drag box. This allowed the fireman to operate the lefthand injector from his side of the cab. Again, I made this from scrap etch and brass rod.

Tender body
The tender was relatively straightforward and will build either a BR1 or BR1A version. The only external visible difference between the two was the height of the water pick-up dome, the BR1 dome being shorter. The dome was replaced by a fabricated item in plastic as the whitemetal one supplied is the tall variety and is also too small in diameter. As with the loco, I replaced the whitemetal buffers, vac and steam pipes with brass items. I also fabricated the small lubricating box just behind the front steps and used copper for the piping. I found that the rear ladder needed lowering slightly as it sat up too high and the rear top

When complete, the model was dismantled for painting and finishing. I use a cleanser called Shiny Sinks together with a scrubbing brush to thoroughly clean all the components before painting. Painting was carried out using grey car primer as a base followed by satin black for the chassis parts and Land Rover Green for the main body parts. Black and red areas of the loco and tender body were applied by brush using Humbrol enamels. Lining and lettering was carried out using Pressfix transfers from the HRMS range and the whole thing was then given a coat of satin laquer. The plates from Guilplates and were applied with superglue at this stage; a light weathering was then applied by airbrush to give slightly dirty but well cared for appearance.

In conclusion, I feel that whilst this kit has some drawbacks and faults in its design there is nothing wrong that the experienced builder will not be able to overcome. With a knowledge of the prototype and a modicum of skill, it is possible to build a well-proportioned and accurate model of the BR Standard Class 7. It is not the easiest kit I have ever built, but when you take into account the low cost compared to other currently available kits, then I believe the extra effort required to build it is worthwhile and the kit is excellent value for money.